''Ghalghai Koashke'' or ''Ghalghai Na'arghe'' ( inh, ГӀалгӀай коашке, ГIалгIай наIарге) is the name of ancient

Ingush Ingush may refer to: * Ingush language * Ingush people The Ingush (, inh, ГIалгIай, translit=Ghalghaj, pronounced ) per Oxford dictionary "a member of a people living mainly in Ingushetia in the central Caucasus." Ingushetia is a federa ...

outposts in the Assa valley of the Dzheyrakhsky District of

Ingushetia Ingushetia (; russian: Ингуше́тия; inh, ГӀалгӏайче, Ghalghayče), officially the Republic of Ingushetia,; inh, Гӏалгӏай Мохк, Ghalghay Moxk is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. ...

, historically also known as the Durdzuk Gates or Gates of Durdzuketi. The entire territory of the monument is included in the Dzheyrakh-Assa State Historical-Architectural and Natural Museum-Reserve and is under state protection.

Etymology

Ghalghai Koashke is a composition of the words — Ghalghai, which is the self-name of the Ingush people and ''koashke'', which is the local plural form of the

word ''kov'', meaning "fortified settlement" or "outpost". According to professor Doshluko Malsagov this was used by the ancients to refer to ''gates'' in

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

gorges.

History

The Durdzuk Gates, also known as the ''Assa Gates'', are reportedly known in Georgian chronicles since the VI century AD. D. Malsagov suggests that the IX century geographer Ibn al-Faqih's report of the building of 12 gates and stone fortifications in the country of the Durdzuks by the Persian king Anushirvan, which A. Genko locates in the region of the Assa Gorge, is connected with old Ingush legends about folk heroes '' Koloy-Kant'', '' Pẋagalbärē'', '' Barakhoy-Kant'', et al., who guarded the Assa Gorge from the invasion of enemies from the plane. N. Yakovlev, notes that the Ingush have lived in the Ghalghaï (Assa) Gorge from time immemorial. A stone wall was made across the gorge by them, and their guards stood at the only entrance. No one could leave or enter without the permission of the guards. Among the defenders of these Ghalghaï outposts, were many Ingush clans (

teips Teips (also taip, teyp; Nakh тайпа ''taypa'' : ''family, kin, clan, tribe''Нохчийн-Оьрсийн словарь (Chechen-Russian Dictionary, A.G. Matsiyev, Moscow, 1961), ''also available online:'Чеченско-Русский сл� ...

), notably the nearby Egakhoy, Targimkhoy, Khamkhoy, Gäginäqan, Barkhanoy, Barakhoy, Barkinkhoy, Yovloy and Kokurkhoy (Ferta Shouli).

Geography

Many stone outposts and settlements can still be found on both banks of the Assa River in mountainous

. The most known outpost is located on a rocky ledge at the exit from the Assa Gorge. According to legend, the tower complex was badly damaged as a result of a terrible collapse. The remains of the once five-story battle tower and residential buildings have been preserved in the fortress.

External links

ГIалгIай НаIарге (Ghalghaï Gates): 3D virtual tour

Ворота Дзурдзуков (the Dzurdzuk Gates) , ''Ghalghaï Koashke''

References

Bibliography